


Jungle

by Aysu



Series: EBF Collection [7]
Category: Epic Battle Fantasy (Matt Roszak Video Games)
Genre: Anna is reckless, No pairings - Freeform, because she cares about her idiots, but we'll never know what it is, natalie is a mother hen, something is in the trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aysu/pseuds/Aysu
Summary: The team is trekking through an old jungle.
Series: EBF Collection [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015827
Kudos: 7





	Jungle

Matt watched Anna effortlessly scale the ruined stonework of the promenade, eyes bright with admiration and awe. "She's like a monkey," he joked as the ranger flipped herself vertical, and twisted to land neatly on a ledge a dozen and a half feet above their heads. 

"I think the word you’re looking for is idiot, not monkey," Natalie grumbled under her breath. She rubbed a hand over her face while watching for when she just  knew their friend would fall and snap her neck. 

Lance huffed a quiet laugh and shook his head. "Anna fall down? Never." He turned his eyes back to the uneven cobble stones and hopped across a short gap. "She has more balance than all three of us combined." 

"Everybody slips eventually," Natalie muttered, finally tearing her gaze away from Anna leaping nimbly out onto a half-collapsed pillar, and then onto a ledge across the sluggish river. 

Matt chuckled quietly behind her, and they continued on their exploration, three navigating around and over cracks in the ancient road, and one following close behind, but far overhead. Loose stones were a treacherous constant on both paths, and there was one point where Matt, Natalie, and Lance had to ford a section where the stones had collapsed entirely into the river. 

For awhile, the only sounds were those of frogs and insects, and the quiet lapping of the water. Then, abruptly, the peace was broken by a clatter of stones followed by a loud splash. Instinctively, the three jerked their gazes around to where they'd last seen Anna, only to immediately drop their search to the river with exasperated sighs when they couldn't spy her. Large ripples disturbed the previously still water, but only Anna's bow bobbed on the surface. After a few more seconds, they exchanged uneasy glances. 

"She should have come up by now," Natalie murmured uneasily. 

Beside her, Matt had already shucked his weapon to the ground and kicked off his boots to dive into the river. Lance tore his eyes away from where the swordsman confidently knifed to where Anna had presumably vanished under, searching the stonework and foliage above for any threats. 

"Chances she just slipped?" Natalie asked quietly as she watched Matt dive under. 

"She would have yelled if that were the case," Lance refused grimly, sharp gaze still focused above. "Either something attacked her, or she may have been bitten—lots of snakes in this kind of environment, after all." 

Matt's head breaking the surface of the river distracted Natalie from replying, and both heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of Anna being dragged up as well, though she was clearly unconscious. The swordsman swiftly ferried her back to shore, and boosted her up to Lance before hauling himself onto the stone. Water streamed from his clothing and hair, and he wiped a hand across his face before blinking his eyes to clear them, breathing heavily. By comparison, Anna was equally soaked, but unmoving with her eyes closed, and bleeding from multiple scratches gained from her tumble. 

"She alright?" Matt asked as he watched Lance check Anna's vitals while Natalie began working her healing magic. 

"Her heart is a little slow, which might be from shock," Lance reported tersely. His eyes drifted to the watery blood running from a rapidly knitting scrape on the ranger's arm. "...She's bleeding more than she should be." 

Natalie's brow twitched from concentration before she noted, "She's been poisoned with some kind of anti-coagulant. Something must've bit her." 

"Anti- co-augh-you-leant?" Matt repeated in confusion. "Sounds nasty." 

Lance snorted from where he was wrapping Anna in a thick blanket and propping her half on his lap in an effort to get her off the cold stone. "Anti- coagulant,  moron, and it is nasty. It means she's been poisoned by something that keeps her blood from clotting, which means wounds will bleed more heavily and for a lot longer—maybe indefinitely—if not treated properly. It's a pretty common venom in a lot of reptiles and amphibians." 

"Anna must’ve disturbed some snake sunning up there, and it bit her," Natalie sighed. 

At the sound of her name, Anna let out a low groan before her eyes fluttered and opened to stare up at Lance's arched brow in dazed confusion. "Wha...? Lance? How did-" Her eyes widened in shocked remembrance, and she jolted upright, one hand slapping against her neck as she twisted around in alarm. "Something hit me!" 

"If it was your common sense, it was a little late," Natalie scolded archly. She planted her hands on her hips and scowled at Anna as the ranger unsteadily clambered to her feet, still dripping, and abandoning the wet blanket. "Seriously, Anna, I know you like to be up high, but there's literally no reason why you can't walk on the ground like a normal human. You could've gotten yourself killed falling from up there." 

Anna ignored the lecture being huffed her way, and shakily paced to the edge of the path to glare up at the foliage. Water still dropped from the ends of her hair, her clothes were stained with blood, and she was shivering despite the still, humid air. 

"It was just a snake, Anna, let it go," Matt sighed from where he was wringing his hair dry. 

"That was no snake," Anna refused shortly. Her hand drifted back to her neck and she rubbed the spot pensively as she slowly explained, "I was hit by a dart. Something was in the bushes, and I turned to look, and... and..." 

Natalie's tirade cut off, and Matt exchanged a look with Lance. Anna rubbed her neck more vigorously, as though it would help her remember what had attacked her.


End file.
